LOFT

Loft is by definition, the angle formed between club face and groundline. The higher the loft measurement of the club, the higher the resultant ball flight. Loft is the primary reason the ball becomes airborne. Typically through a set of clubs, the longer the club, the lower the loft.

The more loft a club has, the easier it is to hit straight. The primary reasons are backspin and length. A higher lofted club puts more spin on the ball and causes the ball to remain on the club face a fraction of a millisecond longer. The longer it stays on the face, the more backspin the ball has. The more backspin it has the less likely it is to travel off line.

Determining the proper loft for a given player is an important consideration in fitting. In addition to helping get the ball airborne, loft has a secondary influence on accuracy. Lofts exist in conjunction with lengths of clubs to create different distances as well as trajectories. The goal of loft fitting is to optimise carry and roll distances related to woods; related to irons, the goal is to determine a trajectory that will hold the ball on the green without sacrificing distance.

Driver lofts in today’s marketplace range from lower than 5 degrees as used by strong touring pros and long driving champions to as high as 14 or 15 degrees on certain lady and senior models. In the 9 degree range, drivers are separated by as little as 0.5 degrees, so it is easy to see how two different drivers provide very different playing characteristics related to ball flight and to accuracy.

Fairway woods follow the same trend in club number and loft. For example, there are certain “strong” fairway clubs that have 12 or 13 degrees of loft which is less than some drivers. Similarly, #3 woods vary from 13 to over 17 degrees of loft. The same applies to all fairway woods: the loft of one company’s #5 wood may be the same as another manufacturer’s #7 wood. In short, it cannot be assumed that any metal wood, or iron for that matter, with a certain number engraved on its sole will play similarly from one company to another.

Custom fitting ensures that clubs with the correct head design and loft are matched for each golfers swing characteristics and athletic ability irrespective of handicap. The players current set of clubs may also be accurately adjusted in our own workshops utilising a modern state of the art loft and lie machine.

LIE ANGLE

The lie of the golf club is plays a key role in shot direction, particularly related to mid and short irons. By definition, the lie of the golf club is the angle formed between the centreline of the shaft and the ground-line with the club in a normal playing position. The lie of an iron is said to be standard, flat or upright. For example a typical #5 iron may have a standard lie angle of 60 degrees; a more upright iron would have a lie angle greater than 60 degrees and less than 60 degrees for a flatter iron. Each individual club in a set has a specific lie angle; generally this gets progressively more upright as the club’s length gets shorter.

A lie that is best suited to a player will position the plane of the club’s face toward the target at impact, making it easier to hit straighter shots.

A lie problem of only a couple of degrees will have a dramatic impact on the shorter irons and subsequently be detrimental to shot making. When considering the #PW for example, a two degree error in lie angle with an approach shot would cause a deviation of approx 10 feet on the green.

David Leadbetter says:

(from The Fundamentals of Hogan)

“It is important to get clubs that fit you so that you can perfect your setup and build a repeating swing. For example, a short person who plays with a standard lie may well fell that the toe of the club sits off the ground – too upright of a lie and one that tends to creates shots that go left: this person needs flatter clubs. A tall person using a standard lie club could find the heel sitting off the ground – too flat of a lie and one that tends to create shots that go right: this person needs more upright clubs.”

The sole of the club should sit relatively flush on the turf. Otherwise, through no fault of your own you’ll make compensations in your swing in order to hit the ball straight. These compensations will inevitably groove errors into your swing.